It has been common to make hollow plastic containers of a single layer of plastic by simultaneously extruding a viewing stripe along one side of the container for viewing the level of contents in the container. Thus, the viewing stripe is made of clear material. However, this adversely affects the aesthetics of the container.
Among the objectives of the present invention are to provide a hollow plastic container and method of making the container wherein the aesthetics of the bottle are not adversely affected but the product inside the container is visible through the stripe; and to provide such a construction without the need for an additional extruder.
In accordance with the invention a hollow plastic container includes a coextruded translucent plastic outer layer, an opaque plastic inner layer, and a viewing stripe of translucent or clear plastic material extending longitudinally in the inner layer. In one form the container viewing stripe is made of clear plastic material. In another form, the stride is made of the same translucent plastic material as the outer layer. In a further form an additional inner layer is provided of translucent or clear plastic material. The hollow plastic container is made by coextruding a parison of at least two plastic layers to form an outer translucent plastic layer and an inner opaque plastic layer, and simultaneously coextruding a viewing stride in the inner layer and extending longitudinally of the parison.